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years would have involved a time when Giacomo and Carlo were actively trying to ruin Herrera Incorporated, but he glossed over that too, undoubtedly for her benefit.
It was a pleasant night, and if Amelia had been asked two weeks earlier if that was possible she would have sworn until she was blue in the face that there was nothing on earth that would induce her to spend a nice quiet evening with Antonio Herrera—and especially not to enjoy it.
But dinner drew to a close and the sun dipped low over Madrid, setting late in the evening owing to the time of year. They were just two people then, with night before them, and all she could think about was the way he’d looked at her earlier.
She’d said she didn’t want him, and he’d contradicted that.
Yes, you do, hermosa, and I’m going to enjoy proving that to you.
‘Well,’ she said, awkwardness in the small word, ‘I might go to bed.’
She couldn’t quite meet his eyes.
He didn’t respond directly. ‘Have you told your family about this?’
She was very still, her heart heavy inside her. ‘Not yet.’
At that, she felt him stiffen. ‘You haven’t mentioned our marriage?’
‘Nope.’
‘Your pregnancy?’
She shook her head from side to side.
‘Dios mío! For what reason?’
She chewed on her lower lip, reaching for her water glass and sipping from it to bring some moistness back to her dry mouth. ‘It’s complicated,’ she said after a moment.
‘Complicated? To tell them you are pregnant?’ He stood, and her eyes dragged up his frame, drawn to his strength and breadth as though he were a magnet.
‘You’re not just some man to them, though. You’re the devil, remember?’ Her brows knit together. ‘The fact I’m in some kind of relationship with you would be enough to kill them,’ she muttered. ‘Let alone when they realise it was just a stupid one-night stand from which I ended up pregnant.’
His expression was inscrutable as he came to crouch beside her, his trousers stretched over his powerful haunches.
‘Come on,’ she said with a roll of her eyes. ‘You hate them; obviously they feel the same about you. And the last thing I want is for me or my baby to become some kind of pawn in your feud. If they knew I was pregnant, they’d have absolutely refused to let me marry you.’
He arched his brows and reached a hand for her chin, holding her face still when she would have turned away from him. ‘And you’d have let them control your life in that way?’
‘No.’ Her eyes sparked with his. ‘Because I’m doing this for the baby, because I want him or her to have a family, remember?’ She sighed. ‘I didn’t want them trying to stop the wedding, and I didn’t want them making a huge deal out of this.’
He frowned. ‘It’s ironic that you are attempting to keep our marriage a secret,’ he said with a grimace.
‘Why is that ironic? Can’t you see that it makes sense?’
‘No,’ he said firmly, with a shake of his head.
‘I obviously plan on telling them some time. I just...don’t quite know when,’ she finished vaguely.
In truth, the idea of having that conversation sat heavily on her shoulders. Nothing about this pregnancy was straightforward. Not the circumstances, not the baby’s father, and certainly not the family history that shrouded their child, even before birth. And yet, in spite of that, one emotion had overridden all others: happiness. And, selfishly, she didn’t want anything to detract from that. Giacomo and Carlo would be furious—and she understood why. But she didn’t want to have that discussion yet. There was enough to adapt to—marriage to Antonio, getting to know him, settling into life in Madrid, dealing with her pregnancy.
Her family would have questions, and she’d feel better answering them when she knew exactly what those answers were! To have to defend her marriage, to explain her reasoning, to permit intrusions into what was a private matter—she didn’t want that. She wasn’t ready for it.
‘Then you will not wish them to join us.’
‘Join us?’ She stared at him with alarm. ‘What for?’
He dropped his hand away from her face. ‘I’ve arranged a small wedding reception to take place next week. My friends and business associates, nothing big, but I thought you should meet them, and that they should meet you. I had wondered if you’d like your family to be there too. I must say, I’m relieved this is not the case.’
